


This First Impulse

by nonebutyou



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Bickering, Fluff, M/M, Resolved Sexual Tension, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 10:35:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13702713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonebutyou/pseuds/nonebutyou
Summary: Will officially has no idea what's going on, but he supposes if he had to choose someone to get locked up with in some paranoid Salemite’s doomsday bunker, he'd pick Paul.





	This First Impulse

Will is sitting straight-backed and cross-legged, breathing deeply, when Paul finally stirs with a low moan and untangles himself from his blanket, curling into the pillow Will had shoved under his head. It's not as though Will had thought Paul would never wake up, but some of the anxiety he’s trying to meditate away definitely lifts at the sight.

‘Good morning,’ he says brightly.

‘Is it?’ Paul asks, voice rough. He presses his face into the pillow, looking like he's trying to burrow right through it.

‘Sure.’ Will sets a bottle of water by Paul’s elbow, tapping it lightly against him. ‘It’s always great waking up and realising I haven't been killed by my grandmother’s husband.’

‘They're not actually married at the moment,’ Paul says into the pillow.

‘Oh, right, because _that's_ the important part.’

Paul sighs and turns his head enough so that Will is in his line of sight. He looks very attractively tousled in the low light and Will is annoyed that he can't even fully appreciate it, since he's busy not freaking out about their general predicament. The entire situation is just ridiculous. He lived two years with Susan and Roger and the closest he ever got to danger was from pool cues swung by rowdy drunks. A few months in Salem and he's already had his mother organise a strangling by his ex-murderer and his maybe-step-grandfather kidnap him at gunpoint.

‘Will. Hey, we're okay. Take a deep breath for me, please?’

His focus snaps back to Paul, who’s pushed himself upright and laid a reassuring hand on Will’s shoulder. Will can only imagine what his expression looks like for Paul to be so worried.

‘I’m fine,’ he says, mostly telling the truth. ‘I’ve taken a _lot_ of deep breaths since I woke up and realised we were locked in here. If I were any calmer, I’d be dead.’

Paul doesn't seem completely convinced, but he knows when to let things go, which is one of the reasons Will likes him so much.

‘Where is “here”, anyway?’ Paul asks, grabbing the water bottle and getting up to investigate. Will’s already checked every corner for an escape route besides the locked entrance and found nothing but an abundance of dust, so he doesn't bother joining in.

‘It looks like some sort of survival bunker,’ Will informs him. Paul pokes through a cupboard stacked with assorted doomsday supplies and shows absolutely no surprise that someone in Salem would feel the need to have a survival bunker. That, in itself, is a little concerning. He makes a mental note to delve further into Salem’s history beyond Marlena’s stories about John the Oh-So-Heroic One.

‘It's a pretty nice one,’ Paul comments, wandering through to the adjoining rooms.

‘Yeah, it was cool of your dad to lock us up in a place like this,’ Will can't help calling out.

There's silence, which could mean Paul didn't hear him or, more likely, is ignoring him. Will goes back to trying to meditate until he starts feeling pins and needles in his right leg, which doesn't do much to help him empty his mind and find a state of peace. He takes possession of Paul’s pillow and stretches out on the floor.

‘Still talking to me?’ Will asks when his fellow captive finally comes back. Paul must have satisfied himself that the other rooms hold no secret exits because he makes a beeline for the door. There's still a smudge of dirt at the bottom from where Will had kicked it earlier.

Paul shoves determinedly against the door. ‘Yes, even if you are being an ass right now.’

‘Me?’ Will stares at him in disbelief. ‘You’re the one who wouldn't let me go back to Hope. We wouldn't be in this mess if we’d just let the police handle it. You know, the people whose job it is to _stop people killing each other_.’

‘We could have handled it fine if you hadn't gotten into it with my dad!’ Paul snaps. ‘I told you not to do anything without talking to me first.’

‘And what would that have changed?’ Will demands, sitting up so he's not trying to have an argument lying down. ‘Maybe he would have knocked you out first? Paul, he was taking poisoned coffee straight to Steve. I had to stop him before it got to that!’

‘Why do you have to be so impulsive?’ Paul asks, sounding exasperated.

‘Why do you have to be so patient?’ Will snaps right back.

Paul gives up on the door to look at Will. He's starting to smile, which effectively takes the wind right out of Will’s sails. Will flops back onto the ground, resigned to being completely useless when faced with that smile. He thinks idly about how much more powerful it would be if Paul were shirtless. It’s a nice thought. It's really the nicest thought he’s had since getting involved in all this madness.

‘That's not really the criticism I think you meant it to be,’ Paul says laughingly.

‘What else am I supposed to criticise you for?’ Will mutters. He finds the ends of his scarf and drapes them over his face, as if that could help him hide from the spectacularly embarrassing fact that the worst thing he could say about Paul is he's too _patient_. He knows Paul isn't perfect; no one is. But sometimes it's hard to remember that when all Paul has been to him is kind and steady and understanding, even despite the heartache Will has caused him just by being alive.

There’s a shift of air above him before Paul settles close by.

‘How about getting you involved in all of this even though I knew it could be dangerous?’ Paul suggests softly. ‘You could resent me for that.’

Will frowns. ‘But you didn't think your dad would actually hurt anyone.’

‘No, but with his history, I knew there could be people around him who would. Or who could force him to do it. I should have kept you out of it.’

It's not easy, but Will tries to project his disapproval of Paul’s self-flagellation through his eyebrows alone, since they aren't hidden by his scarf.

‘I wanted to help you,’ he reminds Paul, ‘and I’m glad I did because otherwise there would have been a chance you’d have ended up stuck here on your own. And no matter what I say, I don't blame you for anything that's happened, so stop being so— so annoyingly _noble_.’

Will hears Paul laugh, an almost rueful sound, and then shuffle around somewhere above his head. Before he even registers the movement, Paul has flicked away the ends of his scarf and is gazing upside down at him.

‘You can be kind of sweet sometimes, you know that?’ Paul says, the last of his laughter fading into a still intensity.

Will raises an eyebrow. ‘I am?’

‘Mm.’ Paul has him loosely caged, hands on either side of his head. ‘You brought that pillow and blanket to me, didn't you? If my dad had done that, there would be a set here for you, too.’

‘It’s uncomfortable on the floor and you were too heavy to drag into the bedroom,’ Will says matter-of-factly. ‘Has anyone ever told you to lay off the gym for a while?’

Paul smiles. It's wholly different to the wide and open one that leaves Will incapable of mustering up a single negative thought. This one is slow and considering, a little wicked; it makes him want to spread himself out and let Paul do whatever he likes with him.

‘Not once,’ Paul says, with all the confidence of a man who knows exactly how attractive he is. ‘And the water? You had that ready for when I woke up.’

‘I was getting one for myself anyway,’ Will replies. It's becoming increasingly hard to be flippant with Paul focused so intently on him.

‘And when you said I deserved someone who would put me first?’

Will hesitates, looking searchingly up at him. There's a subtle shift in Paul's tone, even as his expression suddenly becomes unreadable. Will isn't sure what Paul wants from him, so he goes, as always, with the truth.

‘I meant that,’ he admits.

Will’s uncertainty about where the conversation is going makes him feel defiant enough not to break eye contact, so he sees the exact moment when Paul’s gaze turns hot. His breath catches. He wants so badly to reach up and pull Paul down, but the first move can't be his again.

‘Yeah,’ Paul says, sounding wrecked. ‘And you were right.’

In the end, they meet halfway, Will lifting his head up eagerly just a heartbeat after Paul bends down, his hands moving to tug Paul close. It's awkward at first with the position they're in, but then Paul tips Will’s chin up a little and licks into his mouth, and he can't focus on anything except how all-consuming the kiss is. It’s nothing like their first two kisses; Paul is almost wildly aggressive, demanding all of Will’s attention and holding it tight when he has it.

Paul finally breaks away with a last, hard suck to Will’s bottom lip that has a shiver of lust working its way through his body. He opens his eyes slowly, feeling dazed and utterly desperate for more.

‘Will.’ Paul’s thumb rubs gentle circles on his cheek. ‘You're the impulsive one. Tell me what you think we should do next.’

Will takes a deep breath. It doesn't help at all. It helps even less when Paul’s thumb drifts down to skim lightly across his mouth. He meets Paul’s eyes with a brittle steadiness found through sheer willpower alone.

‘I think we should do what any two people locked in here would do, and check out that bedroom.’

Paul has him on his feet and caught in another kiss in seconds, as feverishly hot as the first. He loses his scarf and jacket before they even reach the bedroom, bruising his calf when he's distracted by a hand on his zipper and stumbles into a chair. He more than pays Paul back for that when he finally manages to strip Paul enough to get his teeth on bare skin.

It turns out he's right. Paul’s smile is much more powerful when he's shirtless.

And it's even better when he's not wearing anything at all.

**Author's Note:**

> In before this gets jossed! (Waiting for this cliffhanger to be resolved is a real test of patience.)


End file.
